Excerpt from Lancashire Nonconformity, or Sketches, Historical and Descriptive, of the Congregational and Old Presbyterian Churches in the County: The Churches of Preston, North Lancashire and WestmorlandIN sending forth the first instalment of Lancashire Nonconformity a few prefatory sentences are necessary. Most of the articles incorporated in this volume have already appeared in The Preston Guardian, and it is at the earnest request of many friends that I have undertaken to publish them in a collected form. The work does not in any sense appear as a rival to Dr. Halley's charming book for whilst in many minor points that work is seriously inaccurate, yet it has a value quite its own, and will hold the field alone for many years to come. The two works need only be compared to see that they proceed along different lines, that neither supersedes the other, but that they may be mutually helpful. It is claimed that the present work is unique. Nonconformist histories have been written for several counties, but in each case they are little more than a bare recital of facts and dates, and so are useful only as books of reference. In the present instance, whilst the most rigid accuracy has been sought after, an attempt has been made to popularise the subject, by descriptive notes and stories, traditionary and authentic. How far the attempt has been attended with success the reader must judge.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.